Empowering the Biomedical/CE Professional
The extech instruments universal ac power source + Ac Power Analyzer has front (100 W) and rear (2,000 W) universal output sockets for high-resolution power testing to 10mW. The tool features low power, high-resolution front panel output, with variable voltage and frequency. The high power rear panel output supplies line frequency and voltage, while the low power measurement (10 mW to 100 W) is for testing power consumption of small devices or standby power at different voltages and frequencies. The high power measurement with harmonics measurements is available from 100mW to 1000W at 110V, or from 100mW to 2000W at...
Network worms are a class of malicious software (a.k.a. Malware) which self-replicate across a network among computer systems. In a theoretical sense I find them to be amazing and incredibly interesting, but in a practical sense they can be extremely difficult to deal with effectively. Typically IT/IS security teams have methods to detect, investigate, remediate and prevent infection on desktop, laptops and servers they manage; however, clinical engineers have a much greater challenge in that the same methods cannot often be used with medical devices, for many reasons. Like any other piece of malware, there must be an infection vector...
After working for 22 years in talent acquisition for technical fields, Jenifer Brown has launched her own talent management search firm. Health Tech Talent Management focuses on finding and placing talent in the medical equipment service industries. Below, she answers questions about what successful job candidates have in common. TechNation: The traits many recruiters value – punctuality, professionalism, a strong work ethic – would be helpful for candidates for many kinds of jobs. Are there traits you value as a recruiter that are more specific to the biomed field? Brown: To me, a main value is good communication and customer...
It and finance executives are closer than ever in American businesses, according to an article published in Financial Times on March 21, 2012. “Corporate finance and IT departments have become ever more closely intertwined,” the article says, because finance needs IT tools to monitor and run the finance function. And because good or bad IT investments can make or break an organization. This may be a bad sign, as Healthcare Technology Management (Biomed) departments strive to determine their roles in the future of health care. As we all know, HTM departments may report many places in an organization: Facilities Engineering,...
Varian Medical Systems and Siemens Healthcare have partnered to interface software and imaging systems for treating cancer with image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery. The companies will mutually market radiation oncology products and investigate opportunities for joint development of new products for image-guided radiotherapy and radiosurgery. “By developing strong software connectivity and new architecture linking Siemens and Varian systems, together we can give clinics important new options for imaging and treating patients” said Tim Guertin, President and CEO of Varian Medical Systems. ”Another key objective of this partnership is to accelerate innovation and provide more efficient and effective solutions, particularly in emerging markets.” Varian and Siemens will develop interfaces that will connect Varian’s ARIA...
Last month’s winner for the March TN Vault was Todd Blumb from Robbinsdale, MN. The winning answer was a Mattern X-Ray tube stand and generator. Click on the picture to view the full size. Think Carefully. Only one answer will be accepted. Your entry will be automatically generated from your account information. Winner receives a $10 gift card! ...
Rutgers University, Penn Medicine and Siemens have received a $3.4 million research grant to develop tools aimed at improving the identification of prostate cancer using MRI. The five-year grant, with funding in the first two years from the American Recovery and Reinvestment Act (ARRA) of 2009, was awarded by the National Institutes of Health under an initiative to promote industry and academic partnerships. Recent studies by Rutgers and Penn researchers show that high-resolution MRI technology can reveal cancerous tissue in prostate glands and pinpoint where the tissue is concentrated. Radiologists, however, do not always know whether unusual-looking visual features indicate...
We have heard it over and over how “economic projections are far from rosy” (Bloomberg, Feb 14, 2012), and the economy and employment trends continue to fluctuate. One thing that is evident is that employers are facing some very difficult challenges, especially in workforce planning. At the top of every employer’s concern is the challenge of finding and retaining the best-qualified employees, and in today’s market, available high-quality talent is extremely limited. Employers, especially in health care, are forced to do more with less resources, and budget constraints continue to hold back hiring even for critical positions. They are dealing...
Clinical engineers are frequently called to work on time-sensitive and costly technology repair situations, many times which directly affect patient care workflows. CEs also have brothers-in-arms for those same circumstances in the IT staff that respond to incidents across technology platforms. Taking into account the previous topics I’ve written on CE/IT introductions, change management, security and networking I will present a (not so) hypothetical situation for which these groups should begin to coordinate before an incident occurs. As with any technology incident management work, the aim is to reduce downtime, reduce expenses, and contain a failure mode from affecting others....